Random thoughts

[rbkwp]

Charcoal Australia
This viral image isn't the full story.

This shocking viral image of Australia’s bushfires has been the topic of some confusion. It’s been widely shared as a NASA satellite image of the fires as seen from space—but an important detail has been omitted. This is a composite image that shows one month of Australia’s fires burning all at the same time.


For whatever small comfort it is, these fires are not all burning at once. Here are two other maps that give proper context to the scale of the fires. As a 'collection' of all the fires that raged within the limited time frame of a single month, the viral image remains a shocking enough indicator of the emergency that Australia is facing at the moment.


If you can afford to donate to help fight the fires, rescue wildlife and support victims, please visit this list of where you can donate, compiled by The New York Times.

 

[rbkwp]

media going nuts now from 1/2 a billion to 1
who really knows

25 People and 1 Billion Animals Are Dead from Australia’s Bushfires
Australia’s climate-denying prime minister has already called in emergency responders to battle the wildfire crisis. But fire season hasn’t peaked yet, and scientists are warning that the country’s own policies are part of the feedback loop driving their unprecedented crisis.

Australia, Your Country Is Burning – Dangerous Climate Change Is Here With You Now
I am a climate scientist on holiday in the Blue Mountains, watching climate change in action.


Top story

Some animals stay put after a bushfire and rebuild their populations from charred landscapes. LUKAS COCH/AAP
Animal response to a bushfire is astounding. These are the tricks they use to survive
Dale Nimmo, Charles Sturt University

Wildlife can smell and hear a fire coming, and have developed novel ways to evade it. But they must watch out for cunning predators rushing in for a feed.

Use the slider tool in the images below to see before and after NASA satellite images of Australia’s fire and drought effects. NASA
‘This crisis has been unfolding for years’: 4 photos of Australia from space, before and after the bushfires
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Molly Glassey, The Conversation; Wes Mountain, The Conversation

We pulled four before-and-after NASA satellite images and asked bushfire researcher Grant Williamson to reflect on the story they tell.

It’s in our power to influence the climate by influencing the nations who help determine the climate. Victorian government

 

[rbkwp]

SAEED KHAN / AFP via Getty Images

Australia Wildfires Rage On

Devastating wildfires continue to spread across Australia, with the country's government pledging to invest "whatever it takes" to help its citizens and wildlife recover. At least 30 people have been killed nationwide since September, and more than 2,000 homes are reported to have have been destroyed by the bushfires. Recent rainfall has been a relief but it’s not enough to have a long-term impact, experts say.


Fears bushfire livestock loss will exceed 100,000
GRAPHIC: As farmers share heart-rending stories, the Government fears stock losses from fires around the country will exceed 100,000.

Kangaroo Island fires ravage 'bee utopia'
Apiarists estimate about 1,000 of the island's hives have been burnt in bushfires on the "bee utopia".

Government scrambling to deliver interest-free loans to bushfire-affected communities
David Littleproud has cancelled a trip to a fire-affected community so he can prepare a package for farmers and small businesses.

Cyclone Blake tracks the Kimberley coast putting Western Australian communities on alert
The BOM says Tropical Cyclone Blake has weakened, but it continues to dump much-needed rain on Western Australia's north.

A crisis of underinsurance threatens to scar rural Australia permanently
As if it's not enough to lose your home and possessions, realising you are underinsured is often the next disaster to come.

NSW fires cause problems for Snowy Hydro 2.0 with machinery lost and town half-destroyed
The beleaguered Snowy Hydro 2.0 scheme is facing another setback after bushfires hit the renewable energy project on multiple fronts.

Bushfires scare off East Gippsland tourists as businesses face struggle to stay afloat
With tourists scared off and his chef seeking safety in Melbourne, this winery owner is counting the costs of the Gippsland fires.

Landscape rehydration 'better than dams' in improving farm production, reducing fire risk
Holding more water in soils is critical to reducing the risk of catastrophic fires, flood and drought, land managers say.

 

[516778]

There's a better way to tame large forest fires. So why don't we do it?

 

[rbkwp]

cant say i was overly happy with feral cats knocking off our native skinks,likely by the 00s,without bushfires
can always be mooted why/how did the feral animals appear huh

 

[3671131]

Messy

 

[rbkwp]

Messy

very
unfortunately,very,as well

 

[rbkwp]

In Australia's Burning Forests, Signs We've Passed a Global Warming Tipping Point
'Nobody saw it coming this soon,' one scientist said. 'It’s likely the forests won’t be coming back as we know them.'
BY BOB BERWYN

As extreme wildfires burn across large swaths of Australia, scientists say we're witnessing how global warming can push forest ecosystems past a point of no return.

Some of those forests won't recover in today's warmer climate, scientists say. They expect the same in other regions scarred by flames in recent years; in semi-arid areas like parts of the American West, the Mediterranean Basin and Australia, some post-fire forest landscapes will shift to brush or grassland.

SEE ALSO:
Wildfires Trap Thousands on Beach in Australia as Death Toll Rises
Earth's Hottest Decade on Record Marked by Extreme Storms, Deadly Wildfires
How Wildfires Can Affect Climate Change (and Vice Versa)
read more

 

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Donal Husni / NurPhoto via Getty Images
SINKING CITY
It’s not just Australia — Indonesia is facing its own climate disaster
By Rachel Ramirez on Jan 8, 2020 at 11:36 am

dai

our regions suffering
dont forget NZs volcanic activity 3 months ago
NOT saying its directly linked to CC
but i am saying its likely/possible there is an association to it with all our dubious actiity WW

It’s not just Australia — Indonesia is facing its own climate disaster

 

[rbkwp]

GOOD LUCK
somehow i dont think you can/will convince that govt
the people yes

Australia, Your Country Is Burning – Dangerous Climate Change Is Here With You Now

I am a climate scientist on holiday in the Blue Mountains, watching climate change in action.

Australia, your country is burning – dangerous climate change is here with you now

 

[rbkwp]

fish and chips
for lunch
remnants for dinner
after shopping completed

 

[GODHEAD PLATINUM]

Thoughts right now
I picked up a magazine
Ohh, here we go
Fifteen hundred years
Fifteen hundred years right here
Burning witches, burning books
Burning babies and their looks
Yes, indeed
Burning everything that's sacred in my jeans

 

[rbkwp]

DONT BE FOOLED
by a normal return of your TAXPAYERS FINANCE being returned in your favour
ie
rebuilding your lives and infrastructure
any govt would be obliged to do so i would think
any govt will divert re priorities

Australia's Deadly Wildfires in Photos: The View from Space | Space

In Australia, Rain Falls, But Wildfires Expected to Intensify, NASA Says | Space

 

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THANKS TO ALL for the generous donations that will help many to rebuild there lives and the country of Australia


'We're stepping up': Billionaire Andrew Forrest pledges $70m for bushfire relief and recovery

 

[rbkwp]

agree
cant see it ending readily

Australian Wildfires Prove Denying Climate Change Won’t Save You From It
Climate scientist Michael Mann is in Australia, where the bushfire crisis is unfolding in real time. He says voters there need to look for ‘climate hawks’ who can counteract the climate-denying policies of politicians like current prime minister Scott Morrison.

 

[Adrian69702006]

From my blog today...

On Wednesday evening a press release was issued on behalf of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, indicating that they intended to “step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.” It would seem that their intention is also to divide their time between the United Kingdom and North America. Although they will continue to receive some funding from the Duchy of Cornwall, in order to be free to earn their own livings they will have to relinquish their share of the Sovereign Grant.

It is none of our business to engage in gossip or speculation about the likely reasons for this development and we will leave that to others. What we will say is that none of this came as a surprise to us and we doubt whether it did to anyone who is half competent at reading the signs of the times. A little disparagingly, some commentators have tried to make us believe that having a young royal couple earn their own money and live their own lives is somehow incompatible with supporting The Queen. This is nonsense on stilts and we will say so at once. There are, of course, dangers inherent in Royalties earning their daily bread through commercial activity, and they can expect little sympathy if they trade on the Royal ‘brand’ or lay themselves open to exploitation by unscrupulous people. Both have been known to happen in the past and it’s not been pretty.

It was undoubtedly a mistake to make the announcement of their withdrawal from public life without first consulting The Queen and other members of the Royal Family, as well as serious breach of protocol. It caused unnecessary hurt and shock. However, we understand from a further announcement today that there is a willingness within the Royal Family to help the Duke and Duchess carve out a new role for themselves.

As with parliamentary democracy, there is much to be said in favour of constitutional monarchy, not least of all because it is infinitely preferable to most of the available alternatives. Our monarchy has survived because it has, in large measure, adapted itself to changing times. In order to continue to succeed, it needs to maintain that process, part of which will involve operating on a scale more in keeping with the needs of the Twenty First Century than those of the Nineteenth. A cull of non-essential working royals is long overdue and likely to take place during the next reign if not during what remains of the present one. Some people are temperamentally better suited than others to front line service in the Royal Family “Firm” involving, as it does, formal court routines, little privacy, a ceaseless round of public engagements and constant media scrutiny, not all of which is adulatory by any means. It is probably better that those least suited to the lifestyle and who can best be spared, stand aside now rather than wait until they are removed. Prince Andrew, the Duke’s uncle, has stepped aside from public life following allegations regarding his private life and associates, and we suspect that his retirement will most likely be a permanent one. We sincerely wish the Duke and Duchess of Sussex every success as they seek to carve out new, lower profile, roles for themselves. God save The Queen.

 

[rbkwp]

have a feeling the Aussies are too busy dealing with the immediate crisis,the bushfires
they are too bright to continue allowing denier Morrison Trumpalike dictating re there lives
come respite and action
dopey Morrison offering the Aussies there tax money back,wont soften the pain
help yes,but no guarantee of loyalty at the polls, hopefully

 

[rbkwp]

fair,estimate
no need to go overboard
we know it would be quite unestimable
annoying thing is,fires been raging for months
they seem to only recently taken it into account huh
yes we know, humans, houses

PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG GIMESY
By Rachael Bale, ANIMALS Executive Editor

500 million animals? If you’ve been keeping up with the news of the Australia fires, you may have seen this statistic going around. It comes from University of Sydney professor Chris Dickman, and he explained that this number—480 million, to be exact—is an estimate of wild animals affected by the fires. Many have died directly from the flames, smoke, or heat, and many more died or will die as a result of losing their homes and sources of food. Others, like flying foxes (pictured above), are dying en masse from Australia’s record heat.

Dickman’s big number is based on 2007 research he did for WWF on the density of mammals in the state of New South Wales. He points out his estimate is conservative: It only counts mammals (minus bats), birds, and reptiles. It only applies to New South Wales. And it only assumes three million hectares of land burned, which is now outdated.

In fact, the real animal death toll is likely much higher. But: "We won’t know anything for sure until experts can begin to assess the damage once the fire season is over—and there’s still at least a month to go," says Nat Geo wildlife reporter Natasha Daly, who has written about the heat-stricken bats and how koalas have been affected by the fires.

 

[rbkwp]

Kangaroo Island residents stranded as CFS battles fires
The town of Kingscote on South Australia's Kangaroo Island is cut off as the Country Fire Service continues to battle a number of out-of-control blazes.

Scorching temperatures, erratic winds to create more bushfire havoc across NSW
Firefighters prepare for another challenging day with hot temperatures and a late southerly change forecast to bring damaging winds across parts of New South Wales.

Snow guns in position to defend Alpine areas from bushfires on Victorian 'spike day'
Communities that have barely begun to count their losses are once again bracing for a day of significant fire danger as spot fires begin to strike and business owners in the Alpine region use snow to protect their livelihoods.

Fire crews fight through the night as out-of-control bushfire threatens Perth's suburbs
A fast-moving bushfire in Perth's south-eastern suburbs is being fanned by wind gusts, as almost 200 firefighters try to stop it heading towards more densely populated areas.

Trumpalike liars/cheats
dont be fooled Australia

PM argues for 'comprehensive' inquiry into bushfire crisis
Climate change, hazard reduction burns and the national response to the fires will all be considered under a wide-ranging inquiry, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.

Auslan interpreters save lives in bushfires, but only if they make the TV screen
Sean Sweeney has become a familiar face in the bushfire crisis, working for months to ensure the deaf can access up-to-date emergency information.

 

[rbkwp]

seems as tho,nothings happening
except continual bushfires
no improvement
and tomorrows supposed to be worse
unbelievable
what can they do
only 1-40 pm there